CKAN follows a predictable release cycle so that users can depend on stable
releases of CKAN, and can plan their upgrades to new releases.

Each release has a version number of the form M.m (eg. 2.1) or M.m.p
(eg. 1.8.2), where M is the major version, m is the minor
version and p is the patch version number. There are three types of
release:

Major Releases

Major releases, such as CKAN 1.0 and CKAN 2.0, increment the major version
number. These releases contain major changes in the CKAN code base, with
significant refactorings and breaking changes, for instance in the API or the
templates. These releases are very infrequent.

Minor Releases

Minor releases, such as CKAN 1.8 and CKAN 2.1, increment the minor version
number. These releases are not as disruptive as major releases, but
backwards-incompatible changes may be introduced in minor releases. The
Changelog will document any breaking changes. We aim to release a minor
version of CKAN roughly every three months.

Patch Releases

Patch releases, such as CKAN 1.8.1 or CKAN 2.0.1, increment the patch version
number. These releases do not break backwards-compatibility, they include
only bug fixes and security fixes, ensured to be non-breaking.
Patch releases do not contain:

Database schema changes or migrations

Function interface changes

Plugin interface changes

New dependencies (unless absolutely necessary)

Big refactorings or new features in critical parts of the code

Note

Users should always run the latest patch release for the minor release they
are on, as patch releases contain important bug fixes and security updates.
Because patch releases don’t include backwards incompatible changes, the
upgrade process (as described in Upgrading a CKAN 2 package install to a new patch release)
should be straightforward.

Outdated patch releases will no longer be supported after a newer patch
release has been released. For example once CKAN 2.0.2 has been released,
CKAN 2.0.1 will no longer be supported.

Releases are announced on the
ckan-announce mailing list,
a low-volume list that CKAN instance maintainers can subscribe to in order to
be up to date with upcoming releases.

This section will walk you through the steps to upgrade your CKAN site to a
newer version of CKAN.

Note

Before upgrading your version of CKAN you should check that any custom
templates or extensions you’re using work with the new version of CKAN.
For example, you could install the new version of CKAN in a new virtual
environment and use that to test your templates and extensions.

Note

You should also read the Changelog to see if there are any extra
notes to be aware of when upgrading to the new version.

The process of upgrading CKAN differs depending on whether you have a package
install or a source install of CKAN, and whether you’re upgrading to a
major, minor or patch release of CKAN. Follow the
appropriate one of these documents: